


for I have been made new.

by magicites



Category: Kamen Rider W (Double)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, There are other side characters too but they're not too important, Weddings, also Akiko/Ryu in the background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-02
Updated: 2014-07-02
Packaged: 2018-02-07 05:27:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1886736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicites/pseuds/magicites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phillip had never wanted anything more than a family. He lost the one forged through blood, but one forged through a combination of the law and love would be just as good.</p>
<p>A very rider wedding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	for I have been made new.

**Author's Note:**

> Shoves this onto here. Shhh. I've descended into toku hell and this is the first one I've allowed myself to post on AO3, since I guess I might as well prove that I'm still here.
> 
> The most awkward thing about this is that how AO3 spells Shotaro's name and how I spell Shotaro's name are two entirely different spellings.
> 
> (Cross-posted from my writing blog, which can be located [here](http://magicites-writes.tumblr.com/). Follow for more soft writing.)

Something in Phillip changed the day of Akiko’s wedding.

They had all been helping her plan throughout the past few months. She announced the engagement long before Phillip came back into their lives. Though late, he joined in with a level of enthusiasm that Akiko couldn't match.  He adored weddings to a degree that seemed to go beyond his usual level of fanaticism.

Shotaro was never the brains of their operation, but he knew Phillip better than anyone else. That didn't stop him from guessing the reason behind his fervent research. He put his money on what weddings represented: the creation of a few family.

Phillip had never wanted anything more than a family. He lost the one forged through blood, but one forged through a combination of the law and love would be just as good.

-

Akiko pranced up to them during the reception, dragging a bemused Terui behind her. “We have to take pictures!” She said, pinning them in place with a bright grin. He could practically see the slipper hiding somewhere behind her, ready to strike the moment he showed any sort of opposition.

“Yeah, sure,” Shotaro answered, pulling the brim of his hat down just enough to conceal his eyes. No one needed to know that his eyes were still puffy from the delinquent tears that had escaped during the ceremony.

(Phillip already knew, and had already spent several minutes making fun of him. Thankfully, he was quiet now.)

There was a small area reserved solely for pictures. Photography equipment formed a bubble around the place, making it feel removed from the rest of the reception. A kindly looking photographer stood nearby, visibly brightening as they approached.

“Ah, the newlyweds! Here for another round?”

Akiko nodded happily. “C’mon, you two!”

The four of them settled in front of the backdrop; a shimmering, golden curtain illuminated by a delicate string of lights. Akiko clambered into Terui’s arms as Shotaro and Phillip exchanged glances, trying to think of a pose to strike. Something that wouldn’t be too cold, but nothing too showy, either. And definitely nothing too embarrassing. If they took the spotlight away from Akiko, there would be hell to pay later.

After a few moments, Phillip lit up. He motioned for Shotaro to move a little closer to Akiko, and once he was satisfied with his relative location, he stepped up to his side and gently slid an arm around his waist.  He pulled him slightly closer. “Now,” Phillip instructed, “put your arm around my shoulder. That should be good enough.”

Shotaro obeyed, and since Akiko didn’t offer any comment outside of a shrill giggle and a look that Shotaro couldn’t quite approve of, he figured that they had done well enough. It felt like an awkward family reunion photo, but Shotaro figured that he’d feel that way no matter what pose they made. A forced smile and a few pictures later, they finished. The photographer waved them off, and the two pairs went their separate ways: the newlyweds went off to hunt more people down for pictures, while they headed back to a table to sit down and relax.

They sat down across from each other; a few seconds passed before Phillip began to speak. “You know, Shotaro…” he said, flicking his eyes up from the pearly tablecloth, “this whole event made me realize something.”

Shotaro hummed a response, prompting him to continue.

“Well…I think marriage is wonderful. I’d like to get married soon.”

A surge of _something_ shot through Shotaro’s body. His eyes widened, and if he had been stupid enough to take a sip from the cup of coffee right next to his hand, it would have ended up all over the only dress shirt Phillip owned. “What!? To who!?”

Phillip cracked a smile. “Isn’t it obvious? You.” He reached across the table, taking Shotaro’s hands in his own. “Shotaro Hidari, will you marry me?” He asked, fixing him with that same _look_ that was completely and wholly unique to him; a trademark that no one else could ever replicate.

Aside from a lot of yelling and a general state of panic, Shotaro couldn’t really remember any of the reception after that.

(He never did give him a straight answer.)

-

Phillip had only been back for a month at most; long enough to finally begin to settle into something that approached normal, but not long enough to let Shotaro forget the fact that he had left in the first place.

The little things were what kept tripping Phillip up. He couldn’t recognize the harried old woman that, without fail, showed up on their doorstep once a week asking them to track down her cat. He kept sitting in Mick’s favorite spots, causing the poor wretch to stare sadly at Phillip until he finally relented his seat. He wasn’t adjusted to the new coffee brand Akiko had fallen in love with a few months ago, and would stare at his cup in confusion after taking his first sip.

They weren’t much, but they stuck out, like splinters that were too small to remove.

They all carried those splinters, though. Terui never made enough coffee for the four of them. Akiko still shrieked on occasion after entering the back room only to discover that it wasn’t the empty warehouse it had been throughout the previous year. Clients, even regulars, would ask if the strange boy who hung around was another client with a case they just couldn’t solve.

Not even Shotaro was immune. As much as he ignored it, he carried a constant desire to never let Phillip stray far from him. He didn’t want him out of his sight. Cases made him anxious; there was always a niggling fear that, when he returned to the agency, that frigid emptiness that he spent an entire year failing to cope with would return.

Even when they were together, there was a need to reaffirm the fact that he was really there – to touch him, make sure that he was still real, still whole. They were almost always brief, casual gestures; a brush of their arms here, a tap on his shoulder there. Akiko called it clinginess; Phillip called it amusing.

This muted sense of panic always became alarmingly loud, sirens of fear sounding within his mind, whenever they transformed into Double. He could no longer return to normal without hesitation; his hand always hovered over the belt for a few seconds, despite the knowledge that Phillip wasn’t going to disappear again. Nobody ever said that fear was logical.

Phillip was (usually) patient enough to wait for Shotaro to gather the courage to end the transformation himself. After his terror built up into a thick, heavy wall around him, all it took was Phillip’s hand on his shoulder to shatter that wall and flood him with relief. Shotaro would never admit it out loud, but he knew that instant confirmation that Phillip was ok was the reason why they always transformed into Xtreme these days.

Each touch, each affirmation that he wasn’t leaving, helped ease his fears a little. The scars might not ever fade, but the pain would.

-

Originally, they had planned to go out for dinner. Queen and Elizabeth had somehow snagged two extra tickets to one of the nicest restaurants in Fuuto, and ended up giving them to Shotaro for reasons that only teenage girls could truly understand.

But then a downpour started, washing away any hopes of going out.

All in all, it wasn’t that bad. Phillip insisted on cooking, since he had apparently found an excellent recipe that he wanted to try. He spent much longer than necessary preparing it. The noodles were slightly burnt, and the vegetables undercooked – how that managed to happen, Shotaro had no clue – but it was edible.

They sat at the table together, each involved in a different activity. Phillip was wholly absorbed in some book about cars; Shotaro tried in vain to rub the dirt off of one of his favorite hats. The only sounds in the room came from the occasional plop of a stray noodle back into soup, the frantic drumming of the rain on the roof, and the tinny voice from the radio reporting story after story. All of it faded into background noise.

“Shotaro,” Phillip said, eyes still glued to his book, “did you know that parts of Europe are beginning to switch over to hydrogen fuel for their cars?”

“Huh.”

“There are many different alternative fuel sources, actually. Even vegetable oil can work! We should test that out soon.”

“Oh no,” Shotaro said, setting his hat down on the table. He jabbed a finger towards Phillip. “You are _not_ testing it out on the motorcycle.”

“But it should be perfectly safe!”

“Doesn’t matter!” Shotaro shot back. “I need that to get around town. I can’t have you ruin it. Go pick up a car from the junkyard or something.”

“Hmm…I’ll keep that in mind.” Phillip finally closed his book, and slid it to the very edge of the table. He looked at Shotaro, a small smile on his lips. That set him immediately on edge. He was planning something, and it probably wasn’t going to be good.

But all Phillip said was, “it feels nice to be back here.”

That calmed his nerves, at least. A million different thoughts raced through Shotaro’s head, but he wasn’t willing to sacrifice the dignity needed to voice any of them. He agreed – good _god_ , he missed Phillip more than any other person out there. But there were some things that he didn’t need to voice out loud, so he settled for a simple, “yeah. Good to have you back.”

“You missed me, didn’t you?” His smile had turned wry, and a teasing gleam flashed in his eyes. He was enjoying this.

“You’re my partner. Of course I did.”

“What would you do if I were to leave again?”

Shotaro froze in his seat, a cold chill running down his back and spreading throughout his entire body. He couldn’t deal with that again – not yet. It was too soon.

“Calm down, Shotaro. It was only a hypothetical question.”

“Don’t….ask that again. Please.”

“Alright. But there is something else I wanted to ask you…” Phillip said, lazily poking his noodles around with his chopsticks. How he appeared so effortlessly casual was a mystery. “Do you remember what I asked you at Akiko’s wedding?”

Shotaro struggled to keep his expression calm, and failed miserably. “W-why bring that up now!?”

Phillip was unfazed. “Do you?”

“I couldn’t forget something as crazy as that.”

“Why do you think I asked you that?”

Shotaro paused. He wasn’t expecting this question at all, though it was easy for him to find an answer quickly. “It was just another one of your obsessions. You wanted to study weddings, and you tried dragging me into it.”

Though referring to his obsession in the past tense wasn’t fully accurate. He had seen the wedding magazines that had mysteriously grew in number after Akiko’s wedding. He saw the stray books from the Gaia Library hidden under the bed. It was obvious that Phillip hadn’t gotten over his curiosity quite yet.

“Well, that’s _partially_ correct.”

Shotaro’s mouth dropped open. “Huh.”

“Marriage is much more than a big party, you know. It’s a lifelong pledge to someone. It…” he paused for a brief moment, “…marks the official creation of a new family.”

He didn’t really know how to describe his emotions; it was all a whirlwind of confusion, relief, and a dozen other feelings that were too jumbled for him to place.

“There’s no one else that I’d want that with but you. Why shouldn’t we make this official?” Phillip finished, looking Shotaro straight in the eye. He saw no hidden feelings there; only a complete earnestness, and a hint of apprehension.

He was going to propose again, if that question didn’t already count as one. Strangely, Shotaro’s panic subsided. It made sense, when he thought about it – why shouldn’t they be partners in just about every sense of the word? There was no one else that could ever replicate the connection they had. No one could know his mind as well as Phillip did.

Besides, they already lived together. There wouldn’t be much of a shift in their lives if they got married.

“Fine. Let’s get married,” Shotaro said, trying not to react to Phillip’s sudden shock. “That’s what you were going to ask, right?”

“Y-yes! Exactly!” His shock soon morphed into joy, leaving him sitting at the table with an ecstatic grin. He leaned over and grabbed one of Shotaro’s hands in his own.  His enthusiasm was childish and lovely. “This is wonderful!”

Shotaro smiled, and tapped a single finger against his temple. “I haven’t been your partner for this long for nothing.”

-

“What if we got an elephant?” Phillip mused, pawing through a book on marriage traditions in other countries. This must have been the sixth Indian tradition he suggested.

Akiko nodded fervently. “Phillip, you should ride in on one! Shotaro can walk,” she said, shooting him a look that was jokingly scathing.

“No.” Shotaro said firmly. This must have been the sixth time he shot down a ridiculous Indian tradition. “How about walking in normally? No elephants, or tigers, or crocodiles.”

Phillip paused. “Doves?”

“…maybe.”

“How many would you get?” Akiko asked. “How much would it cost to rent doves?”

Phillip shrugged. “Price isn’t really a factor for me.”

Akiko stifled a bitter laugh and looked away, muttering to herself, “well, it is for me. Where do you think you’re getting the money for this from…” She probably didn’t intend for either of them to hear her.

“Oi, Akiko, who do you think you are?” Shotaro griped. “Who says we have to get money from you?”

She gaped at him, the picture of complete and total offense. “Oooh? Well, I don’t see anyone else here to help! Aren’t I your wedding planner!?”

“I never said that!”

“Wait…” Phillip cut in, “You want to be our planner?”

Akiko’s demeanor completely switched. She turned away from Shotaro, and in the process, lost every hint of anger in her body. She gave Phillip a sweet smile. “Of course! I’d love to help…for a small fee.”

“That would be great!”

She nodded. “Then I’m back to being Aki-P! P for planner.”

This wasn’t going to end well, was it.

-

Shotaro had made a point not to help plan Akiko’s wedding. Unfortunately for him, the finer details of this wedding affected him greatly, so he had no choice but to help his overzealous partner (fiancé? No, it just didn’t feel right to call him that) and chief hash out every last detail.

Every. Last. Detail.

Though they had set a few basic guidelines already (that there were to be no horse drawn carriages, no glass or vase smashing, and absolutely _no_ exotic animals, period), just about anything that was to be actually included in the ceremony hadn’t been figured out yet. They hadn’t even figured out what type of ceremony they wanted.

“Colors!” Akiko insisted. “We need to figure out the color scheme first. Everything else can come later!” She rummaged around the office, searching for something that she adamantly refused to elaborate on. Shotaro tried to shoo her away from her desk, but she made a face at him and dived straight into the drawers, despite his protests.

After a few moments of rummaging and Shotaro shouting madly at her to stop, she let out a squeal of triumph and slammed the drawer shut. “Found it!” She said, proudly waving a magazine in the air.

When she skipped back over to them, Shotaro snatched the magazine out of her hands, stalwartly ignoring her attempts to wrestle it back from him. Ah, revenge. “Why was this in there?” He asked. “I didn’t put it there...” He knew that the office was still filled to the brim with old wedding magazines (and their number only increased thanks to a _certain someone_ …) but he should have known that one somehow wormed its way into his desk.

“Safekeeping!” Akiko said, jumping up and finally taking it back from Shotaro. “I thought that you’d throw them all away, so I wanted to hide this one!”

“What’s so special about that one?”

Akiko marched over to the table, flipping the magazine open to a random page as she set it down. “Look!” She gestured for Shotaro and Phillip to come closer, and pointed to the squares of color over the page. “There are so many color choices! It’s great.”

“Color choices for what?” Shotaro asked.

Akiko rolled her eyes. “Just about everything you need for a wedding,” she answered. “Plates, napkins, centerfolds, curtains, vases…”

“Impressive,” Phillip said, leafing through a few pages of the magazine. “I’ve never even heard of most of these colors.”

Shotaro glanced down at the pages. With names like ‘sunny meadow’ and ‘falling in love,’ it made sense.

“That’s normal,” Akiko said, waving a hand dismissively. “More importantly, you need to figure out which ones you want!”

Phillip continued to browse through the magazine, looking more and more lost with every turn of the page. After a few minutes, Shotaro took enough pity on him to take the magazine and look through it himself.

He could see why it was difficult. There were hundreds of colors, and many of them were barely distinguishable from each other.

“I have no idea where to start,” Phillip confessed. “Do you?”

“Well…”

Actually, he kind of did. “Give me a second,” he said. Akiko and Phillip exchanged glances, but he didn’t bother to worry about them as he grabbed a pen and flipped through the pages.

A couple of minutes, a few folded pages, and a few circled colors later, he had found just what he was looking for. He tossed the magazine down on the table and turned away from them, trying his best to act casual. “What about those?”

He knew the exact colors he had picked out: a metallic, shimmering green; a chalky, opaque black; and a light, dazzling silver.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Phillip putting the pieces together in his mind, and after a moment, broke out into a grin. “These are perfect.”

It took Akiko a bit longer to figure out the mystery, but once she did, she jumped out of her seat with a yell. “Shotaro!” She yelled, clapping her hands on his shoulders. “I see what you’re doing,” she teased, lightly poking him in the cheek. “It’ll be great.”

“All in a day’s work,” Shotaro commented, shoving away her hand. She stopped being impressed after that, but he didn’t stop being proud of himself.

-

Life became hectic.

They spent almost all of their time planning. Even when Shotaro was actively working on a case, Akiko was right at his side, throwing out ideas and hoping that some of them would stick. They rarely did.

It was a non-stop flow of, “what type of plates do you want?” and “how many flowers do you want in a vase? I think seven or eight would be best. Oh, and should the water be lukewarm or icy cold? Cold costs extra, by the way.”

Shotaro’s answer was always a resounding, “I don’t care!” and a display of irritation that caused Akiko to bring out the slipper. She didn’t always smack him, but the threat was still there.

If they had a client with them, it only got worse. Usually, the client would congratulate him, and then ask about the lucky bride. Most insinuated that Akiko was probably the bride - something that caused her, without fail, to secretly add an extra 1000 yen to their fee. It was wrong to hit clients, but it wasn’t wrong to charge extra for “hampering their ability to work.”

Shotaro was stuck planning even when he and Phillip transformed into Double. The Dopants these days were a joke. Phillip never saw any problem in trying to discuss potential food options or lighting choices as they completely decimated their opponent.

Almost every Dopant was enraged by this. Luckily, it made them more reckless as a result, so beating them into pure exhaustion and performing a Memory Break started to become second nature. It was only another motion to go through. What was more important was discouraging Phillip from trying to add fireworks to the centerpiece of every table.

After a long, exhausting day, Shotaro stumbled back into the agency, wanting nothing more than to just crawl into bed and go to sleep. He set his hat on its proper hanger, dumped out the contents of his pockets onto the table, and set about to getting changed.

He struggled with his tie for longer than usual, but within a few minutes, he was in a nice, comfy (not hard-broiled _at all_ ) set of pajamas and completely ready to crash.

He walked over to the bed, completely ready to fall into the soft fluff. Just as he was about to, he opened his eyes for a split second and noticed that…well, the bed wasn’t empty.

“Phillip!?”

What was he doing here? Usually, Phillip would be wide awake this time of night, cooped up in the basement and completely draining another dry-erase marker of its ink. He shouldn’t be asleep.

Even when he did go to sleep at a semi-reasonable time, he usually slept in a chair. Shotaro never really asked why, but then again, it never really mattered to him. Phillip could do what he wanted.

But no, here he was, snuggled under the sheets and completely at peace. His hands were neatly tucked underneath the pillow, and he held a small smile on his face. He looked angelic.

Shotaro didn’t have the heart to move him. Luckily, he was tucked away on the far side of the bed, so with a little maneuvering, he could easily slip into the bed, too.

They’d never shared a bed before, but it really wasn’t that big of a deal.

(Most likely, this would start to become a normal thing, provided Phillip ever decided to go to sleep at regular intervals.)

Shotaro slipped into the bed, settling himself right on the edge so he wouldn’t suffocate Phillip. With a small sigh that relieved him of the tension in his body, he settled down into the bed, and closed his eyes.

A moment later, he heard a voice. It was a small, cheerfully sleepy hum, followed by a quiet, “welcome back, Shotaro.”

He recognized it as Phillip’s immediately, but the shock of hearing his voice when he expected silence caused him to nearly fall off the edge of the bed. Just as he was going over, an arm snaked around his waist and pulled him back on.

“I-I thought you were asleep!” Shotaro said, rolling over to face him. The arm was still draped over his side. He made no attempt to get rid of it.

“I was, until you came home. You’re very loud, you know.”

The weirdest thing about this whole situation is that it didn’t feel weird at all. There was no one else here. No reason to protest, really. “Go back to sleep,” he responded, rolling over again. “Night.”

He wasn’t really sure what to do from here. He wasn’t sure what Phillip would do, either. So he let his breathing slow, relaxed his shoulders, and tried his best to ignore the quiet rustling behind him.

He realized, after a few moments, that the arm around his waist never quite left. It was actually getting tighter, so he scooted back just a little, and the grip relaxed. He felt warm breath puff against the back of his neck. It sent occasional tingles down his spine, but like the rustling, he ignored it.

Shotaro woke up when the morning light that filtered into their little room became too bright to ignore. He also woke up to a nose buried in his hair and a smile pressed against the back of his neck.

He could get used to this, probably.

-

It took an entire month for them to get to a stage of planning where they finally felt comfortable deciding on a venue. Shotaro had no idea why it took so long, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

At least deciding the venue was simple. They had plenty of choices, especially if they wanted to go outside of Fuuto, but they both knew the perfect place to hold it at. It was a little difficult to get to, but the trip there wasn’t long.

They stood together on the shore of the beach where they first met. A cold, salty wind buffeted them. Shotaro had to clap a hand over his hat to make sure that it wouldn’t fly off.

“It’s fitting,” Phillip said, turning around in a slow circle. He had paper clips holding his hair back today.

 A ruined building stood behind them. Not exactly a typical wedding backdrop, but a little variety was always nice. It was leagues more interesting than a chapel. “The place where we first met will be the place where we swear never to leave each other.”

When he put it like that, he made it sound a little corny, even if it was true.

“We’ll need to set up everything ourselves,” Shotaro said, looking out to a relatively smooth patch of sand a little ways away. He liked the rocks more, but the guests would need to be seated at a place that could actually have tables.

Maybe they could stand on the rocks. He nodded to himself. That would work well. The rocks under their feet, with the sea behind them… talk about scenic.

“We could do that. Easily.” Phillip said. “Though this location may be a little difficult to decorate.”

“We’ll figure something out.”

“Hopefully soon.”

“Yeah.”

Shotaro turned and walked along the rocks, careful to step on ones that looked sturdy enough to hold him. He slipped a few times, and though he heard Phillip’s quiet chuckle behind him whenever it happened, he kept walking. Eventually Phillip caught up to him, and they walked side-by-side along the shore. Shotaro kept his head facing straight ahead but his eyes were always tracking his next move. Phillip moved as if he automatically knew exactly where to go, his eyes never leaving the horizon.

It was peaceful. There were no Dopants, no emotionally-stunted cops demanding him to stop asking questions, and no loudmouth chiefs attempting to hit him with slippers. It was only the two of them, the ocean breeze, and the sun slowly sinking into the water behind them.

After a while, Phillip stopped walking, causing Shotaro to stop as well. He turned to face him, confusion written all over his face.

Phillip gave him an earnest look. “Can I ask you to do something for me?”

“Uh, sure.”

“I have this suspicion that the two of us aren’t going to be here alone again for a long time,” he began. “So…I’d like you to grab me.”

“…What?”

“Like you did the last few times we were here.” He smiled wryly. “I know it’s an odd request, but…please?”

Shotaro sighed. He didn’t really have any other choice but to oblige. He bridged the gap between them. After a moment’s hesitation, he balled his fists in the collar of Phillip’s shirt, and pulled him closer. Their faces were only centimeters apart. He could feel Phillip’s breath, cool against his quickly-warming face.

There was no anger, no heat. He felt nothing besides some vague twinge of desperation. He couldn’t bring himself to pull him closer, but he didn’t want to let go. If he did, it felt almost as if he’d be ruining something that he couldn’t fully grasp right now. Like he’d ruin what they had – whatever that even was.

He couldn’t do that. Not now. Not ever.

Phillip looked almost as if he was waiting for something. What it was, Shotaro didn’t know.

It must have been unrelated, but a small thought wormed his way into his mind. On some strange impulse, he acted on it.

Shotaro exhaled, and kissed his partner right on the lips.

-

Phillip was completely and utterly delighted by this new discovery – that he _really_ enjoyed kisses.

Phillip stole kisses whenever he could. It never mattered when or where. As a result, they ended up kissing. A lot.

(Neither of them complained.)

-

The nudges were gentle at first. Phillip would shoot him a strange look, then ask about the guest list, and if Shotaro had anyone in mind that he wanted to invite.

“Of course!” He said indignantly. “Watcherman, Santa, Queen, Elizabeth, Terui’s lackeys…” His list trailed on, but Phillip’s look never faded. Once Shotaro named off just about every one of their acquaintances, Phillip sighed.

“Fine. I won’t push it,” he said. They moved on to a different subject after that.

Despite his words, the topic kept subtly coming up. They repeated this absurd routine for nearly an entire week before Phillip, irritated out of his mind, burst out, “what about your family, Shotaro!? Are you going to invite them?”

“Of course!” Shotaro shot back, indignant. “I just… haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

“Do they even _know_?” If he was a weaker man, the look Phillip was giving him would have caused him to leave right there and then.

But Shotaro wasn’t, and so, he stood his ground. “Not…exactly.”

“Call them,” Phillip ordered. “Now. No more waiting.”

“I don’t exactly know her number…” Shotaro confessed. “I haven’t actually talked to her in a few years.”

Phillip sighed. “Then we have no choice. Let’s go visit in person.”

Shotaro nearly jumped out of his chair. He gaped at Phillip as he grabbed the keys off the table and went to the door. “Now!? Seriously!? What if we have a client come in? We can’t just leave the office when we’re open! We need these cases!”

“Any hypothetical clients can wait. This is more important.”

There was no point in trying to argue; it was obvious that Phillip refused to budge. In fact, he was probably angrier than he currently let on. Shotaro would probably get an earful later on that day. This was only the beginning of his trip through hell.

In a way, he kind of deserved it. Phillip never had a chance to get close to his family, so it was only natural for him to be upset about Shotaro dropping contact with his. If he knew the reason why, he’d only get even more furious.

It wasn’t even that they were on bad terms. His family just consisted of him and his mother, but the last time he saw her was when he walked out of her house to go become the old chief’s apprentice. She didn’t approve. He didn’t care.

He was never able to forget the pain in her eyes as he left. He should have apologized long ago, but it just…never happened.

He hoped that she wouldn’t be too upset.

The ride there was incredibly tense. Shotaro had the handles of his motorcycle in a death grip. His hands ached; his heart pounded within his chest. Phillip was quiet behind him, only serving to make him even more nervous. He wouldn’t wrap his arms around Shotaro, despite it being dangerous not to do so. He knew, but he didn’t care.

Shotaro didn’t have to think too much about the route, at least. He tried avoiding this part of Fuuto whenever he could, but the roads were still familiar. He knew this area better than any other part of the city.

Her house still looked the same. It felt almost as if he hadn’t ever left. Colorful flowers lined the narrow walkway. The white paint cracked just under the window. Mint curtains still hung in the window.

He parked on the side of the road, and looked up at the small house. It felt as if we was about to walk straight into the past.

“Shall we?” Phillip asked, already standing on the sidewalk. When Shotaro didn’t respond, Phillip gently pulled him forward. “Don’t worry, Shotaro. It’s your family. Nothing to be afraid of.”

Shotaro suppressed a snort. Coming from this guy, that was pretty true. “Yeah, you have a point.” He balanced the motorcycle helmet on a handlebar, and put his proper hat back on. “Let’s go.”

Phillip fell behind him as they walked up to the door. After a moment’s hesitation, he rapped his knuckles against the worn wood.

They waited. After a minute, the door opened to reveal a little, middle-aged woman. She looked slightly baffled at first, but something soon clicked, and her mouth fell open just slightly.

“…Shotaro?” She whispered, shocked. She reached out, and her hand hovered near his arm. Just barely out of reach. “Is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me….mom.”

-

She wasn’t angry at all. Sad, yes, but mostly elated to see him again.

The reunion went fairly smoothly. She welcomed him back with a loving smile and countless offers of teas and sweets. Phillip stayed silent for the most part, watching them both with a small, amused grin.

She wanted to hear everything about his life; how he was doing, where he lived, what his job was. Shotaro told her what he could without sounding too ridiculous. He didn’t mention anything about being Double, but he told her all about the agency. She listened with a rapt fascination, glad that he was doing something that made him happy. It was like she had forgotten about how suddenly he had dropped out of her life.

He needed to tell her the real reason why he came here soon. He wanted to wait for a proper lull in the conversation, but she said something that prompted him sooner than expected.

“So, who is this, Shotaro?” She asked, looking over at Phillip. “He hasn’t said a single thing yet.”

“Then I guess I should introduce myself. Hello, ma’am. My name is…” he paused for a moment. Shotaro instantly knew why he was nervous.

“Phillip…Sonozaki,” Shotaro said for him. “He’s my partner.”

Phillip looked as if he wanted to add something, but he ultimately stayed silent.

“Your partner?” His mother asked. “You work together as detectives, right?”

Shotaro nodded. “Also…he…” he trailed off, looking for the right words. “I…well…”

His voice shook. He’d announced their engagement to many people before this, but not a single announcement had made him half as nervous as this one. “We’re engaged.” He finally said.

There. It was done. He said it.

Her face lit up.

-

She practically adopted Phillip right then and there. The next few hours were spent with her cooing over him (“Oh, what a lovely young man! He’s so wonderful, Shotaro. You should feel lucky.”), and showing him literally every embarrassing picture of Shotaro she had. They got along wonderfully.

Phillip loved her. He loved the picture she showed him.

 Shotaro wanted to crawl under a rock and hide for the next year.

Still, the whole event made him feel a little lighter, as if some unknown weight was lifted off of his shoulders.

-

“Shooootaroooo! Are you gonna let us sing at your wedding?”

Queen and Elizabeth stood in front of Shotaro’s desk, both looking at him with wide, pleading eyes. Originally, they came over just to drop off a copy of their new album. But now that they were here, it was obvious that they had ulterior motives.

“I don’t know. I think pop music might be a bit unfitting to play…”

The girls pouted. Queen leaned over his desk, and within seconds, her pout was replaced by a determined scowl. “But you have to ask Phillip before you can decide, right? Maybe _he_ wants pop music.”

“He’s been on a folk kick lately, actually. Good luck getting him to agree.” He said, kicking his feet up on his desk and leaning back in his chair. He’d rather have something more formal played during the ceremony, but he knew that he could be convinced to have pop play during the reception.

Queen frowned. “Where is he? We’ll go talk to him.”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth added, “Phillip will agree with us!”

They began to look around, and before long, their eyes settled on the door to the basement. “He’s in there, right?” Queen asked, gesturing over to the door.

Shotaro nodded. He slipped out of his chair and slid in front of the girls. “Calm down, girls. I’ll go get him.”

Thankfully, they relented. It was a safety measure, really. Phillip might have been in the midst of researching something strange, which would, without a doubt, lead to the entire room smelling like marker ink. He could also be sleeping in whatever small nook he managed to fit himself into this time.

He hoped that it was the first one, and when he opened the door, his hope was kept intact.

He found Phillip right in front of the whiteboard, scribbling disjointed notes everywhere. He looked up as Shotaro stepped in, greeting him with a fond smile.

“Good, you’re awake,” Shotaro said, glancing at his partner’s newest work. From what he could make out, today’s topic was all about flower breeds. Lilies seemed to be the most prominent flower type there. “Queen and Elizabeth want to talk to you.”

“Oh, really?” Phillip asked, capping the market and setting it on the small rack. His hands were covered in small, black marks. He gestured for Shotaro to come closer for a slow, lingering kiss. When he pulled way, he asked, “about what?”

“Music choices.”

“Ooooh, perfect. I’ve been wanting to talk about that, anyways.”

A few minutes later, after Queen and Elizabeth covered Phillip in their usual amount of affection, they were ready to get down to business. Details were discussed, and Phillip seemed to be open to the idea of them performing during the reception.

Shotaro couldn’t fight it. Now that they had Phillip’s approval, there was no getting rid of them. He let the three of them figure out a rough plan of how their performance would go without offering much input.

After they left, Phillip wanted to take the opportunity to iron out the rest of their music choices. They both agreed that a formal ceremony would be best, but Phillip continued to hesitate even after everything was supposedly decided.

“What’s up? Have another plan?” Shotaro asked.

“Actually, yes. There’s a specific song I want to play, probably near the beginning.”

“Show me,” Shotaro said. “Just…it isn’t too weird, right?”

Phillip smiled. For a second, it made him look melancholy. He wandered off, and a few moments later, returned with the computer they shared in hand. After a little more waiting, a familiar song weaved its way out of the speakers.

Shotaro tensed up. He recognized this song.

It was the only single Wakana had ever released. It never played on the radio anymore, but the song had been burned into his memory long ago.

He agreed immediately. Formality be damned.

-

With time, most of the details were worked out. The stress of planning was eventually reduced, though their life didn’t become any less hectic.

Instead, Shotaro found himself with a growing sense of anxiety. As the wedding date came closer, he found himself feeling more and more nervous. The worst part of his day was no longer meeting to plan details, but planning details about their meetings.

These were leagues more official than the small planning sessions they threw together. Akiko and Terui were no longer required to be there, now replaced by people they actually hired for the wedding.

The meetings were over and done with for one day. They were completely free for the rest of the night. The case was solved, the report written – every task was, for once, completed.

And with Phillip occupied in the back room, Shotaro could relax in bed with a translation of his favorite Chandler novel. Maybe tonight would be the night that he could actually finish the story. He had finished it many times before, but his re-read kept getting interrupted by marriage business.

Within minutes he became so absorbed in the novel that his surroundings seemed to melt away. He was completely engrossed in the story. He didn’t pay attention to anyone who may have happened to move around him.

Really, the only thing that jolted him out of the story was the addition of a sudden, warm weight against his front.

He set his book down on the side of the bed. The solid mass of boy then took the opportunity to lean back and rest his head against Shotaro’s chest. Oh, this was going to wrinkle his shirt _so_ badly.

“You’re rather warm, Shotaro,” Phillip remarked fondly. “It’s nice.”

“What are you doing?”

He held up a book. Today’s topic apparently concerned native Brazilian trees. “I was planning on reading. You can too, you know. I won’t distract you.” With that, he settled down, and flipped open his book.

Shotaro blinked. He…could probably work with this, yeah. He grabbed his book and held it in the position he had it in before Phillip came over. He could still read, and his book wasn’t blocking Phillip’s view either.

They settled into a peaceful silence. The only sounds came from the gentle, occasional turn of a page. It was nice. It was quiet.

It was warm.

For many years, Shotaro thought of love as a dangerous thing. It was hopelessly fleeting. That was how the story went. Love couldn’t save everything. It never lasted.

But love was so much more than that. Love could be passionately angry, explosively sad, pensively quiet, cautiously joyful – or anything in-between. Love took a thousand different forms, and could manifest itself in a million different ways.

This, he thought, had to be love. There wasn’t anything else it could be.

-

 The day of their rehearsal came far too quickly. It was a small event – thank goodness – but that didn’t stop it from being nerve-rackingly hectic.

The fact that there was no bride made the whole rehearsal much more difficult than it had to be. Akiko, who had also taken any and all managerial roles she could get her grubby paws on, had to direct the entire procedure. Whenever there was any sort of thing that only one person traditionally did, she stopped the whole rehearsal in order to figure out if they wanted to include that specific thing, and if so, who would do what.

The most important thing that they had yet to decide was who was going to walk down the aisle, and who was going to wait at the altar. Neither one really had a preference – honestly, if it wasn’t for Akiko’s insistence that they’d kill the mood unless one of them walked down the aisle, they would have just come from the sides.

Eventually they decided to just flip a coin. The loser had to walk. Shotaro called heads as Terui flipped the coin into the air. When it landed on the ground, Phillip was the one to crouch down and examine the results.

“Tails,” he said, picking up the coin, “so I guess I’ll be the one walking.”

Akiko perked up immediately. “Ooooh, Phillip, do you want someone to walk down the aisle with you?” She shot him a shy, hopeful glance. “I know that it’s usually reserved for family members, but….”

She hesitated. Terui nudged her in an obvious, if somewhat awkward, attempt at comfort.

“…we’re kind of like family, right? You and me,” she finished.

Phillip shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but there’s no need to worry about me, Aki-P. I won’t be alone.”

-

He didn’t explain what his words meant even later that night, when it was just the two of them alone at the table, sharing a plate of stale, store-bought cookies.

“Patience, Shotaro,” Phillip said, cookie in hand. “You’ll understand soon enough.”

-

A few nights later, Phillip finally explained what he meant.

“They may be dead, but they’re not gone,” he explained with a small, melancholy smile on his face. “In a way, I can still sense them.”

Shotaro stiffened. “They’re not ghosts, are they?”

Phillip chuckled. “No, not at all. They’re part of the earth now. I can’t really contact them, but I know that they’re watching over me.”

“They’re like guardians.” It didn’t seem right to call any of them guardian angels. They all carried far too many sins for that title.

“Exactly. That’s why I don’t mind walking without Aki. I may look alone, but I won’t be.”

-

They had legal business to take care of. The ceremony itself wasn’t actually required. It helped the whole marriage feel more real, but it’d just be a giant party if they didn’t sign the certificate beforehand.

Rather than enjoy themselves, Shotaro and Phillip spent the day before their wedding sorting out legal business.

It was fairly simple at first. They walked in, asked about a marriage license, and were promptly buried under a mountain of paperwork. For Shotaro, it was fairly easy. Frustrating and tedious, but easy.

It was a different story for Phillip. Being dead for several years didn’t really ease the legal process any. After a _little_ bit of forgery and some clever wording, Phillip managed to complete his half of the work. The fact that he didn’t use his birth name made it a little easier, actually. He wasn’t Raito. He hadn’t _been_ Raito for many years.

“We _could_ share a surname,” Phillip pointed out. He tapped the end of his pencil against one of the small lines towards the bottom of his paper.

He had a point. They could. The question was if they even should, and if so, who would take what name. Phillip obviously had the higher social status. In a normal relationship, it’d be obvious that Shotaro would end up marrying into his family.

But the Sonozakis were far from normal, and that surname carried a past that Shotaro wasn’t sure that he could bear. It would also cause a media frenzy that Shotaro wasn’t sure if he could handle. It could put a damper on business, and they couldn’t afford that. Literally.

They could take his name, despite coming from a poorer family. That’d mean that Phillip would have to give up his surname in the process. He couldn’t blame him if he refused. It was the last connection he really had to his family.

“It’s up to you, partner,” Shotaro answered. “Whatever you choose is fine with me.”

Phillip didn’t take long to answer. “Then let’s share yours.”

Shotaro had to hide a smile. The knowledge filled him with a strange type of warmth. “Phillip Hidari, huh?” He smiled. “Sounds nice.”

“Definitely.”

They wrote down their choice. The rest of the paperwork was long, but easy.

-

The day of the wedding finally came with all of the hectic rushing around that Shotaro fully expected. They had a huge guest list, but the actual number of people participating in the procession were very few. Only Akiko and Terui were actually part of the ceremony – Akiko as the maid of honor-slash-ring-bearer, and Terui as Shotaro’s best man.

The strangest thing about the whole agreement was that Terui volunteered to be the best man. Shotaro couldn’t figure out why.

The thing about beach weddings was that there were no doors to wait outside. Everyone could see them no matter where they were. The best they could do was keep their voices down as they waited for the right moment to go to the altar.

From the back, Shotaro could see just about everything. Guests sat at small tables scattered across the beach. They kind-of formed a walkway to the altar – at least, the tables were all pushed off to the sides. He didn’t recognize all of the faces there. Many of them were familiar, whether they were from Fuuto or a fellow rider, but there were certain plus one’s that he had never seen before in his life.

One group was made up of almost entirely strangers. They appeared to be a group of high schoolers, save for the one adult man who must have been their baby sitter or something. Even then, he didn’t look much older than them.

He recognized one of the boys as the space-themed rider he had briefly met a few months back, but how he managed to bring in 8 other people on one plus one ticket was a complete mystery.

“Hidari,” Terui muttered, jerking Shotaro out of his musings.

“Yeah?” He muttered back.

“It’s almost time. Are you ready?”

“My tuxedo itches, it’s hot, and I’m afraid of losing my hat. So yeah, I’m ready.”

Terui nodded. “Good.”

A short silence followed. Shotaro soon broke it.

“Hey, Terui. Why did you volunteer to be my best man? Did Akiko put you up to it?”

Terui cracked a grin. “Don’t question me.”

Shotaro mirrored his grin. Fair enough.

-

Wakana’s ethereal voice floating through the speakers signaled the start of the ceremony. From the altar, Shotaro could see the guests’ confused expressions as he looked at the different groups.

He directed his thoughts away from the others and towards the table almost directly in front of him. What made this table special was the fact that not a single person sat at it. He knew that there was a small ‘reserved’ sign on the middle of the table, but a crouching Mick currently obscured that sign from his view.

People would ask about it at the reception – he was certain of that much. Why did they give a cat an entire table to itself?

Well, that happened to be the only member of Phillip’s family that could make it in the flesh. Simple.

They also saved a seat for the late detective, too. He wouldn’t have appreciated sitting at the same table as the Sonozakis, but then again, neither would Shroud. They could cope.

The crowd grew deathly silent when Akiko appeared. She walked slowly towards him, carrying a black, velvet pillow with their rings on it. When she caught Shotaro’s eye her smile only widened. She looked so proud.

Once she stopped at her spot by the altar, Wakana’s song grew in volume. Phillip finally came into view on the other side of the beach. His metallic green tuxedo and silver undershirt made him stick out against the evening sun. He had paper clips holding his hair back.

He looked ridiculous. He looked completely perfect. Shotaro pulled the brim of his hat down and covered his face with his hands. He wouldn’t be able to survive this ceremony with his dignity intact if he started crying now.

Phillip didn’t walk down the aisle the same way Akiko did at her own wedding. He didn’t look as if he was walking with some invisible figure. Rather, he looked as if someone was guiding him towards Shotaro. He decided to take it as a sign of finally getting his family’s blessing.

“He looks so nice,” Akiko whispered, her words punctuated with a sniffle. “I’m so proud.”

The song – _her_ song - ended right as Phillip joined him at the altar. They looked at each other in silence. Phillip carried a small smirk the whole way down the aisle, but once he stopped walking, he burst into a huge grin. He glowed with love.

Shotaro had to discreetly wipe away the few tears that escaped his eyes. He had to at least attempt to save his dignity.

-

The time to exchange their vows soon came. The small slip of paper Shotaro wrote his down on weighed heavily inside of his suit jacket. He didn’t know if he wanted to bring it out now. That speech was something personal – their guests may be their friends, but these words weren’t meant for anyone but Phillip.

He had to give his first. His vow ended up being a generic promise to stay by Phillip’s side for the rest of his life. Nothing special there.

But then Phillip began his vows, and floored everyone.

“Partner. That’s what you’ve always been to me, Shotaro.” Phillip began, fixing him in place with an earnest, sincere look. “You’ve been by my side since the day we met. I’ve been by yours, whether in person or in spirit, for just as long. I don’t need to promise to stay, because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than here.”

Shotaro choked back a sob. Not now.

“Compared to some of the people here, you’ve only known me for a short time. I haven’t been lucky enough to know you throughout your entire life,” he shot a glance at Shotaro’s mother. She sat towards the very front. He glanced over as well, and saw her eyes glimmering with proud tears.

“Still, that time is precious to me. You’ve taught me so much. You supported me when I had no one. You brought every single person here into my life. Without you, I’d be completely alone.

Phillip took a deep breath, and grabbed Shotaro’s hands in his own. “I’m so sorry for leaving you for so long. It must have been nearly impossible for you. It wasn’t easy for me, either. I wish I could have been with you then, but…it took much longer to return to you than I would have liked. At the very least, I can promise that I won’t let that happen again. I’m here now. I don’t plan on leaving you again.”

It was getting harder to hold back his tears. Maybe the guests were too far away to notice so he could have still saved face, but Phillip shredded the last of Shotaro’s dignity by reaching up and wiping the stray tears from his eyes. His touch was impossibly gentle, and his hand lingered on his cheek.

“You’ve already heard this, but there’s no one I’d rather be here with than you. You’re my partner in every sense of the word.” They were still holding hands. Phillip gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “Shotaro Hidari. You are a wild, unpredictable, half-boiled man. I can’t wait to see what surprises you’ll show me once we’re married. I won’t say until death does us part.” They shared a smile at that moment that very few people in the room could fully understand.

“As long as the earth itself exists, I’ll be by your side.”

Just about every person there was a little bit emotional. Akiko sobbed openly. He could hear the space rider wailing somewhere in the crowd, crying about how much they meant to each other. He started clapping. The rest of the crowd soon followed.

It gave Shotaro the chance to gather a little bit of his composure when it was time to exchange rings. A teary-eyed Akiko stepped forward, allowing each one of them to take a ring.

They were simple, nothing more than thin band of silver with a small ‘w’ engraved into each one. They were perfect.

They exchanged rings to the sound of more roaring applause. Shotaro, yet again, had to fight off tears.

This time, not even Phillip was immune to the waterworks.

-

The reception started off pretty well. They held it on a different part of the beach where there were less rocks. Tables of food lined the shore. Many guests parked themselves by the food and refused to leave. He didn’t mind too much.

The strangest guest parked by the food was one of the space rider’s guests – a gothy, quiet girl who wore a creepy smile like a medal of honor. One of his other guests, a goofy-looking girl with a plush satellite tied to the waist of her dress, kept trying to prevent her from dumping some strange substance into the soup. The creepy-looking girl wouldn’t stop.

He was about to step in, but two things kept him from doing so.

The first one was the sight of Akiko stomping over to the girls with all of the fury a chief could muster.

The second was the sudden addition of a space rider-shaped growth on his body. The kid wrapped Shotaro in a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you!” He wailed. “What a good wedding!”

Shotaro moved to push him off, but ultimately couldn’t muster up the necessary willpower. “Aw, come on. You’re going to mess up my tuxedo.” After a little more sobbing, the kid finally let him go. By that time, Akiko and the girls were already out of sight.

The space rider refused to leave. Really, he wasn’t bad at all. Just a little too enthusiastic and a little too similar to Shotaro when he was that age. The kid was fun, at least. They chatted for a little bit, and the space rider only left after giving him some weird friendship handshake.

With that distraction gone, he scanned the area for Phillip. He saw him talking to the space rider’s baby sitter. After discreetly creeping a bit closer, he could make out snatches of their conversation. Apparently the baby sitter wasn’t actually a baby sitter. Gentaro – so _that_ was the space rider’s name – begged him to come along because as a fellow kamen rider, he had to go to the rider wedding!

Also the not-baby sitter was a wizard. Phillip asked him to show him his magic. Shotaro joined them at that point.

-

Highlights of the reception included:

-Just about every rider there transforming in an attempt to show off their ultimate form to the other riders.

-Some woman who tagged along with the Births eating every vaguely spicy food item they set out.

-Ooo’s pet demonic bird arm dissolving his body into a pile of medals just to freak Shotaro out. He tried to ban that _thing_ right then and there, but somehow Ooo’s other guest managed to convince him not to. She also managed to placate the demon with ice cream. Shotaro stored that away as useful information.

-Keeping the demonic bird arm on watch all night long, because he just _knew_ that it was going to ruin something (its handlers thought the same thing. Surprisingly, it didn’t do anything too horrible throughout the reception. Maybe that was just an act to spite them all).

-Phillip practically interviewing most of the riders there about their powers.

-Elizabeth flirting with the other space-themed rider only to have him suffer a meltdown greater than Terui’s own breakdowns whenever any woman who wasn’t Akiko so much as looked at him flirtatiously.

-Queen and Elizabeth’s performance winning over every guest there. They were bombarded with compliments for the rest of the night.

Overall, it went much more smoothly than Shotaro had originally predicted.

-

They weren’t really planning on having a honeymoon. There was no place Shotaro would rather be than Fuuto, and even if he did get the urge to travel, Akiko was dead-set on keeping them from spending any more of her money. They already owed her thousands. No need to dig themselves deeper into debt.

Shotaro and Phillip finally arrived back home early the next morning. The reception had stretched into the early hours of the morning. Making sure that all of the guests could get home only meant that they had to spend even longer shivering in the cold night air. It wasn’t quite light out yet, but the sun would be creeping up over the horizon in a little under an hour.

The first thing Phillip did when they walked in was sleepily stumble over to their bed. He paid no mind to his clothes, and didn’t bother to remove his tuxedo as he crawled into bed.

If Shotaro was a slightly weaker man, he would have joined him right there and then. But there was something he had to do that was more important than sleep.

He walked over to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, letting his muscle memory do the work for him. Water – check. Grounds – check. On button actually activating – check.

“Oi, Phillip,” he called out, “don’t go to sleep in that thing. Go get changed.”

“It doesn’t matter if I do or not,” Phillip muttered, his voice muffled by the pillow his head was currently shoved into, “as long as I turn this in by 4, we won’t be charged extra.”

“Matters to me. Take it off.”

Phillip murmured something that Shotaro couldn’t quite catch, but all that mattered was that he sat up and began to undress. Shotaro tossed a pair of pajamas at him before grabbing a set for himself. After a few minutes they both managed to struggle out of their tuxedos and into comfy, childish pajamas. So much for looking sharp.

Any thought of formalwear left his mind as he poured out two cups of coffee. He handed Phillip his and then joined him on the bed.

Phillip stifled a yawn and looked down at the mug in his hands. “It’s nearly five in the morning, Shotaro. Why did you make this?”

“Because I need you awake for something.”

That piqued his interest. “Oh, really?” The prospect of news probably woke him up more than the coffee ever could.

It was now or never. Shotaro took a heavy swig of his coffee. The drink burned all the way down. He regretted the action slightly, but at least he was awake now. He toed his discarded tuxedo over to where he could grab it and rummaged through the pockets. He pulled a piece of paper out of the breast pocket and held it with shaking hands.

“I wrote different vows than the ones I told you at the ceremony,” he explained in a shaky voice. “But they didn’t need to hear them.”

“So you’re going to share them now?” Phillip asked, sipping his coffee. Shotaro nodded. He unfolded the paper and gripped it tightly between his hands.

He could just hand the paper over and make him read it. He could just wait until another time to give him these vows.

But that wasn’t what he needed to do. He needed to be decisive now. Anything else would just become gravy.

He took a deep breath, and began to read from the paper.

“The first day I met you, I had already promised to keep you safe. The chief gave his life protecting you – protecting us from my stupid, hotheaded mistakes – and I just wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I ever let something happen to you. I hated you that first night. I hated how when we first become Double, I could feel you in my head. You poked at my thoughts like I was some kind of toy. You had just as much control over my body as I did. I wasn’t myself.

“That first night was terrifying, but I got through it. I kept moving. I kept fighting. You did too. Somehow, I managed to keep you safe and honor his wish. Demon or not, I was stuck watching out for you.”

Phillip didn’t look surprised at all. He smiled a little, actually. He had figured this all out a long time ago. He stayed silent and waited for him to continue.

“I don’t give a damn if you’re a demon or not. You’re my partner. I’d drag you back from hell itself if I had to. I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the line, I realized that I.” He faltered. “I needed you with me.

“I don’t know how I managed to survive the year you left. It’s all a blur now. Some days I just went through the motions because it was all I could do. I never stopped thinking of you, even when it seemed like everyone else did. No one but Akiko and Terui could even come close to understanding what I went through, but even they didn’t fully get it.

“I won’t lose you again. I’ll keep you safe, Phillip. I’ll make every day you’re with me worth it. I promise. At first, I was worried about marrying you. But now I know that we’ve made the right choice. There’s no one who I could share my life with but you. And most of all, I promise that you’ll never have to make a decision like that again. I’ll make sure that you never have to choose between saving yourself and saving someone you love ever again.”

There was one last phrase, hastily scribbled in at the bottom of the page. He couldn’t work up the courage to say it, but he felt it. He felt it deep in his bones and all through his body.

From the way that Phillip smiled from behind his mug, it was obvious that he felt the same. They didn’t need words now.

Shotaro downed the rest of his coffee, then waited for Phillip to finish his before taking both of their mugs and dumping them in the sink. He sat back down on the bed a few moments later.

“You know…I think you could have been a little more sentimental,” Phillip teased. “I expected a  few tears at least.”

“You…!”

Phillip grinned and raised his hands in mock surrender. “It’s what happens when you’re half-boiled.”

“That’s it!”

Shotaro lunged at Phillip just as he burst into laughter. They half-assedly wrestled and joked and shared numerous kisses and touches before falling asleep sprawled all over each other.

They woke up at 3 that afternoon. They barely managed to return their tuxedos on time.

-

As it turned it, it wasn’t that something in Phillip changed the day of Akiko’s wedding. Nothing in him changed the day of his own wedding, either.

They had only been married a few weeks. So far, nothing between them had really changed. Partner was still their title of choice – it always would be. They still worked as a single detective, they still defeated the ever-shrinking number of Dopants in Fuuto, they still accepted too many missing pet cases, and they still were constantly berated by Akiko.

The biggest difference was that Phillip had developed a strange fascination with his new surname. Once Shotaro entered the basement only to see Phillip asleep on the floor (of course) and the whiteboard covered in writing. Nothing out of the ordinary.

He stepped closer to the board only to see that most of it was covered in Phillip’s new name. _Phillip Hidari_ covered most of the space, written in a dying blue ink.

This is what he had wanted all along – long before the question had ever come up.

He had always wanted them to be officially family.


End file.
